Monday, April 10, 2006

Rediscovering the Brontes

Ok, so I've read Jane Eyre & Wuthering Heights but I'd never read anything by the third Bronte sister, Anne. And the other week I picked up this book called Agnes Grey by Anne B. I loved it--at first it's the story of this young girl who becomes a governess among spoiled bratty children. Her comments about the difficulties of teaching students who won't respect her and parents who won't back her up with discipline sounded like conversations I've had with teacher friends. I also liked her ideals about education.

Later on, it becomes a love story and it's all within a Christian perspective--very refreshing and dear.

This inspired me to reread the other Brontes as well as some things I haven't read such as Anne's second book, and Charlotte's three other novels aside from Jane Eyre. When I've read all of this, including poems by Emily & Anne, I plan to read Elizabeth Gaskell (a friend of Charlotte) on the Bronte sisters. There's also an interesting modern biography/criticism called the Bronte Myth that I want to end up with.

Of course, this reading only increases my desire to visit England. However, I'm not sure I want to go to modern England. I'm not sure it would live up to all the 19th century literature I've read! My sister's pictures of Scotland of course do not help with this Anglophilia of mine.